1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to document identification. More specifically, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for discriminating among a plurality of document types such as currency bills of different denominations and/or from different countries.
2. Background
A variety of techniques and apparatus have been used to satisfy the requirements of automated currency handling systems. At the lower end of sophistication in this area of technology are systems capable of handling only a specific type of currency, such as a specific dollar denomination, while rejecting all other currency types. At the upper end are complex systems which are capable of identifying and discriminating among and automatically counting multiple currency denominations.
Currency discrimination systems typically employ either magnetic sensing or optical sensing for discriminating among different currency denominations. Magnetic sensing is based on detecting the presence or absence of magnetic ink in portions of the printed indicia on the currency by using magnetic sensors, usually ferrite core-based sensors, and using the detected magnetic signals, after undergoing analog or digital processing, as the basis for currency discrimination. A variety of currency characteristics can be measured using magnetic sensing. These include detection of patterns of changes in magnetic flux, patterns of vertical grid lines in the portrait area of bills, the presence of a security thread, total amount of magnetizable material of a bill, patterns from sensing the strength of magnetic fields along a bill, and other patterns and counts from scanning different portions of the bill such as the area in which the denomination is written out.
The more commonly used optical sensing techniques, on the other hand, are based on detecting and analyzing variations in light reflectance or transmissivity characteristics occurring when a currency bill is illuminated and scanned by a strip of focused light. The subsequent currency discrimination is based on the comparison of sensed optical characteristics with prestored parameters for different currency denominations, while accounting for adequate tolerances reflecting differences among individual bills of a given denomination. A variety of currency characteristics can be measured using optical sensing. These include detection of a bill's density, color, length and thickness, the presence of a security thread and holes, and other patterns of reflectance and transmission. Color detection techniques may employ color filters, colored lamps, and/or dichroic beamsplitters.
In addition to magnetic and optical sensing, other techniques of detecting characteristic information of currency include electrical conductivity sensing, capacitive sensing (such as for watermarks, security threads, thickness, and various dielectric properties) and mechanical sensing (such as for size, limpness, and thickness).
A major obstacle in implementing automated currency discrimination systems is obtaining an optimum compromise between the criteria used to adequately define the characteristic pattern for a particular currency denomination, the time required to analyze test data and compare it to predefined parameters in order to identify the currency bill under scrutiny, and the rate at which successive currency bills may be mechanically fed through and scanned. Even with the use of microprocessors for processing the test data resulting from the scanning of a bill, a finite amount of time is required for acquiring samples and for the process of comparing the test data to stored parameters to identify the denomination of the bill.
Recent currency discriminating systems rely on comparisons between a scanned pattern obtained from a subject bill and sets of stored master patterns for the various denominations among which the system is designed to discriminate. For example, it has been found that scanning U.S. bills of different denominations along a central portion thereof provides scanning patterns sufficiently divergent to enable accurate discrimination between different denominations. Such a discrimination device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,196. However, currencies of other countries can differ from U.S. currency and from each other in a number of ways. For example, while all denominations of U.S. currencies are the same size, in many other countries currencies vary in size by denomination. Furthermore, there is a wide variety of bill sizes among different countries. In addition to size, the color of currency can vary by country and by denomination. Likewise, many other characteristics may vary between bills from different countries and of different denominations.
As a result of the wide variety of currencies used throughout the world, a discrimination system designed to handle bills of one country generally can not handle bills from another country. Likewise, the method of discriminating bills of different denominations of one country may not be appropriate for use in discriminating bills of different denominations of another country. For example, scanning for a given characteristic pattern along a certain portion of bills of one country, such as optical reflectance about the central portion of U.S. bills, may not provide optimal discrimination properties for bills of another country, such as German marks.
Furthermore, there is a distinct need for an identification system which is capable of accepting bills of a number of currency systems, that is, a system capable of accepting a number of bill-types. For example, a bank in Europe may need to process on a regular basis French, British, German, Dutch, etc. currency, each having a number of different denomination values.